African migrants spend more to send money home than other migrant groups, according to new World Bank survey. The average cost of sending money to Africa is almost 12 per cent, which is higher than the global average of 8.96 per cent, and almost double the cost of sending money to South Asia which has the world's lowest prices at 6.54 per cent. According to data from the Send Money Africa database Sub-Saharan Africa is the most expensive region to send money to, with average remittance costs reaching 12.4 per cent in 2012...
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Remittances to Africa are the world’s most expensive.
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Digital TV decoder prices still exorbitant
The price of digital television set-top-boxes is still beyond many consumers' reach even as the country prepares for analogue Tv switch off any time after the general elections. Some vendors are selling the Free-to-air decoders for as high as Sh7000 despite a tax exemption and increased competition. A check on the cost of the approved set-top boxes showed the lowest priced box going for Sh5300 while others cost Sh7000. The differences are determined by the device make and model. The Digital Kenya Committee yesterday published the list of type approved DVB-T2 set-top boxes and vendors...
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Deadline for insurance firms to set up risk pool looms
INSURANCE companies that pledged to pool premiums for political risk and terrorism covers have until tomorrow to each pay up their Sh2.2 million contribution to the kitty. The idea of pooling resources for political risk and terrorism covers was brought up by Association of Kenya Insurers to make it affordable to insurance firms to offer this product to their clients as demand goes up ahead of the March 4 general election. "I hope they will not ask us to change the deadline," AKI executive director Tom Gichuhi told the Star in a phone interview...
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Fear grips flower firms ahead of the elections
Five weeks to the general elections, anxiety and fear has gripped flower farmers and their workers in Naivasha. Some of the employees have already applied for early leave while others are seeking a refund from their Sacco earnings. During the 2007-2008, the sector was one of the hardest hit with thousands of workers displaced, others killed, injured or blocked from accessing their working place. The Kenya Flower Council and one of the leading farmers have confirmed the workers concerns and called for peaceful elections...
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Strict taxman removes shine from buy-to-let
A move by the Kenya Revenue Authority to tighten the noose on tax evaders in the real estate market has taken away the shine from buy-to-let properties. Analysts at real estate firm HassConsult say tax-compliance has eaten into rental yields, dealing a blow to the buy-to-let segment. The taxman has since July 2012 intensified efforts to net tax evaders who were not declaring taxes from rental income or sale of properties as required...
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Home builders hit by land-use change delays
Property developers are facing hurdles in changing land-use from agricultural to commercial, putting the brakes on supply of new-builds. Apparently, home builders are unable to obtain “straightforward certification”, a situation that has resulted in projects stalling at planning stages. “This process is so fraught, and in some areas now so far delayed, that we are seeing multiple projects stalled,” said Caroline Kariuki, a mortgage broker...
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Consumption of cement falls for the first time in 3 years
Overall cement consumption has dropped for the first time in three years as the building and construction sector reels from a harsh interest rate regime. Provisional data for 2012 from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics for 11 months shows it is unlikely to clock the three million metric tonnes surpassed in the previous two years. Cement consumption stood at 2.6 million MT for the first 11 months of 2012, compared to full year figures of 3.4 million MT in 2011 and 3.1 million MT in 2010...
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Outer city properties outdo mid-town belt
Properties in the outskirts of Nairobi have beaten those in the mid-town belt and inner city in capital appreciation in 2012. The steepest house price rises were recorded in the outer zones of Nairobi, such as the Thika Road corridor, Ongata Rongai and Athi River, according to the Hass Property Index’s Suburb Review. Prices jumped by 22 per cent on Thika Road, 18 per cent in Ongata Rongai and 17 per cent in Athi River. The blue diplomatic zone of Gigiri was the top performing upper income area at 17 per cent...
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Kitale property developers eye county government
Real estate development in Kitale is on a roll as investors eye the incoming Trans Nzoia county government to supply it with office space and conference facilities. Many of the developers are building hotels, office blocks and retail space as they seek lucrative returns from the rental sector. Businessman Joel Gesuka’s Skynet County Hotel is one of the new buildings that have sprung up in the town. He has put up the building at an estimated cost of Sh50 million in Kibomet area of the town...
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Why Maintenance Of Assets Such As Buildings Is A Must
Of late in the aviation industry, issues with the Boeing 787 Dreamliners have gained great public interest concerning safety. This is perhaps the most advanced passenger aeroplane manufactured by Boeing Aircraft, but a series of safety problems have seen the jets grounded. This is a case where the highest performance standards expected so as to assure passengers and crew safety are not being realised. Perhaps it has something to do with maintenance, which should address the anomalies, or negligence by one of its sub-contracted parts manufacturers...
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‘Super-spreads’ emerge in mortgage financing
Reluctance by banks to cut mortgage rates has created ‘super-spreads’ in the mortgage financing market, according to the latest report by HassConsult and The Mortgage Company. The report says the banking sector may be seen to be cautious ahead of elections, but there is also a possibility that lenders have taken to profiteering. Mortgage rates have remained unmoved since the last Central Bank Rate cut on January 10 (almost halving the 18 per cent level of December 2011) to 9.5 per cent, leaving borrowers paying almost double the benchmark rate...
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Star Shots
Nigerian TV Station - We did not ban Alingo! Nigerian Broadcast Commission (NBC) has denied banning P Square’s hit music video, Alingo . Apparently, the station was reported to have banned other music videos like Wande Coal (Go Low), Timaya (Bum Bum) and Flavour (Shake) for being 'suggestive and provocative'. Others include D'Prince (Take Banana), Goldie (Ski Bobo), Chuddy K (Brazilian Hair) and Tillaman (Koma Roll). But according to Nigerian newspaper The Leader, a representative of NBC said, "NBC doesn't ban videos; we can only instruct them to remove it from being aired...
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Artistes join Joho's peace walk
Over the weekend, a number of artistes joined the Youth for Joho organisation in a a peace walk and peace concert at Mama Ngina grounds. The artistes, Redsun, Nazizi, DNA, Sanaipei Tande, Cannibal and Susumila performed at the event that highlighted the need for the youth to be calm this election period. Former Kisauni MP Hassan Joho engaged the youth in Mombasa County urging them to view each other as brothers and not people from different ethnicity. Photos/ Norbert Allan
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Mali series bad guy unveils ‘sober’ music video
Actor and musician, Jason Corder releases his latest music video that he promises has a “sober message”. The rock music video titled Loving This Home , was unveiled at Kuona Trust over the weekend where other rock bands like Claymore project and Black Fog Angel performed. Corder told Word Is, “The inspiration of the video stemmed from the growing Kenyan rock culture...
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Kenyans bag six slots in viewers’ choice awards
On Monday night, the nominees for the first-ever AfricaMagic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCAs) were revealed during a special edition of lifestyle program 53 Extra. Kenyan productions bagged a total of six nominations for four local productions. The top nominations went to the Lies That Bind production in the Best Picture Editor - Reg Chuhi and Kevin Ireri and Best Art Director - Carol Mbugua ...
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Dark cloud hangs over maize farmers’ fortunes in Kitale
On a warm and dry morning, a group of labourers gather at the home of Neddy Khalayi in Waitaluk, Trans Nzoia district. The women enter the maize store to stuff maize cobs into gunny sacks. Young, muscular men carry the filled sacks out to a waiting tractor. They pour the maize into the shelling machine and then carry the grain to dry on large canvas mats laid out under the open blue sky. For the better part of the morning, the compound is a hive of activity, and Neddy is convinced that they are making good progress. That is until the sky starts to darken...
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Illegal Firearms Linked to Rise in Poaching
In yesterday's Star, we told you about the lords of poaching in Samburu. This is the second part of the investigation by Star writer KIBIWOTT KOROSS. POACHERS in Samburu and Isiolo are often dressed in military attire allegedly sourced from the British Army training in the area. Most of the poachers who are killed or arrested don military uniform which are sourced from the British Army at the Archers' Post military training ground, according to multiple sources. About 10,000 British soldiers visit Kenya every year for training...
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Massive killing of jumbos linked to sabotage of KWS director
Sources say William Kiprono was not welcome at KWS after his controversial appointment EARLY this month, 12 elephants belonging to one family were wiped out by a hail of bullets before their tusks were hacked out of the carcasses in the Tsavo East National Park. More than 50 elephants were killed at the Tsavo conservation area last year, according to the Kenya Wildlife Service, with most of the killings recorded in December. Most of the elephants were killed at the Galana and Taita ranches which border the park...
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Teach children to make decisions
In our youth program at the university where I teach, one of the things that we stress is the need to have a personal strategic plan. Where do I see myself in the next ten years and what am I doing to make sure that I get there. It is always painful to see the number of young adults who have no clue and who live their lives as though their future is their parents’ problem...
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Infants have a right to eat quality food
Breast feeding for a long time has been a relationship between a mother and a child. Health experts have however been raising the red flag over the rate at which mothers are not breastfeeding their children to the required age. This could be maybe because of the lifestyles that we live today, with the busy careers and study. The mothers have therefore resorted to breast feeding supplements that are readily available in the market. This are used to nourish the infants as a supplement or substitute to mother’s breast milk...
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